Born and raised in Detroit, John Varvatos honed his skills designing at Ralph Lauren in 1983 before relocating to Calvin Klein in 1990, where he acted as head of menswear and helped oversee the launch of the cK collection. In 1995, he was appointed head of menswear at Ralph Lauren where he helped launch Polo Jeans. Varvatos debuted his eponymous line in 2000, following the release up with a Converse collaboration that he continues to work on to this day. His collections are known for their heavy use of rocker and music inspiration.